Archive for News
We Act Radio now on the air
Posted by: | CommentsInaugural show with David Shuster on now, bringing progressive radio to Washington, DC.
1480 AM WPWC
WeActRadio.com
We Act Radio
202 889 9792
855 889 9792
We Act Radio is bloggers Cliff Schecter and Alex Lawson. Give ‘em a listen.
Guest Post from Holly Jones
Posted by: | CommentsThe following was written by County Commissioner Holly Jones.
Buncombe County employs 1420 employees. These 1420 individuals are some of the most hardworking, innovative, compassionate professionals working in any county government around the country. Such professionals deserve to be fairly compensated for their excellent service. Furthermore, strong compensation packages are good business in terms of retaining strong staff and being able to compete for the best talent.
The dance of any government employer is to be competitive in the job market and fair to employees while remembering who ultimately funds the paychecks, the taxpaying citizens, not local government officials. Such stewardship requires a delicate balance between determining appropriate compensation that attracts a quality workforce while not being out of step with comparable markets and our community.
This is why the Board of County Commissioners directed staff in the June adoption of the 2011-12 budget to do a compensation study to determine how Buncombe County was doing in this dance.
While we await this data, I recently learned of undisclosed additional, longevity payments to employees. This is troubling on a number of levels. Two of the guiding principles in my platform for county commissioner were transparency and stewardship, and in this spirit I share with the public the following memo I drafted for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.
Brownie Newman for Buncombe County Commission
Posted by: | Comments
Look what landed in my inbox this morning! Brownie’s skills, talents, leadership, and effectiveness are going to move Buncombe County in the right direction.
Brownie Newman today announced his plans to run for Buncombe County Commission. Newman has served two terms as a member of Asheville City Council and has served as Mayor Pro Tem since 2009. Newman did not run for re-election to City Council in 2011. His last official day as a member of City Council is Dec. 6.
“As a member of Asheville City Council, I tried to set ambitious, achievable goals for our community. I am proud that we have established Asheville as a leader for energy independence and green jobs, promoted the growth of locally owned businesses and made it clear that we are an inclusive community that supports equal rights for all our citizens,” said Newman.
Newman cited these as some of the key accomplishments on City Council:
Established Asheville as a leader for clean, renewable energy:
- Asheville City Council committed the city to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% and to require all new municipal building to LEED Gold standards.
- Asheville replaced its old, polluting diesel buses with a new fleet including clean, quiet hybrid buses and is replacing its city street lights with LED bulbs, which will save taxpayers $650,000 a year in lower utility bills.
- Newman helped secure funding for Asheville Green Opportunities, to provide job training and mentoring for young people from low income neighborhoods so they can develop work experience in the new clean energy economy.
Supported job creation, locally owned businesses and working families:
- Asheville worked with Mountain BizWorks to create a revolving loan fund to provide capital to local citizens to start their own business.
- Asheville partnered with Buncombe County to bring Linamar to Asheville, who will create at least 400 or more good paying manufacturing jobs and put the property formerly occupied by Volvo back into productive uses.
- Asheville held the line on property tax rate while investing more than $35 million to fix our long neglected water infrastructure.
Along with other members of Council, Newman supported a domestic partnership policy to extend equal workplace rights to municipal employees. The policy assures city workers will receive the same compensation for doing their job, regardless of sexual orientation.
“During a time when state legislators are trying to change North Carolina’s Constitution to discriminate against our citizens, I am proud that our community is standing up for equality,” said Newman.
In addition to his work on City Council, Newman is also one of the partners at FLS Energy, a local solar utility company. Since Newman joined FLS Energy in 2008, the company has grown from eight employees to more than eighty. Newman serves as Vice-President and Project Finance Director. He is one of the four members on the FLS board of directors.
Newman will be running in a new two-member County Commission district that includes most of Asheville and the central part of Buncombe County. Long-time County Commissioner Bill Stanley has announced he will not seek re-election.
Holly Jones is currently a commissioner from this district who plans to run for re-election. Newman and Jones previously served together on Asheville City Council and the two plan to support one another for County Commission.
“Holly has done a great job as County Commissioner. I am proud to lend my full support to her re-election campaign and am honored to have her support.” said Newman. Holly Jones added, “I am excited that Brownie is running for County Commission. He has contributed a lot to the City Council over the past eight years and he will be an effective member of the Commission.”
The Newman campaign will hold its kick-off event in January. Details to follow.
To learn more about Newman for County Commission, go to http://www.facebook.com/BrownieNewman
http://twitter.com/brownienewman
They’re Ba-ack
Posted by: | CommentsNC Lawmakers will reconsider PHOTO ID law (HB 351, RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT Act) on SUNDAY Nov 27.
HOUSE CALENDAR
101st Legislative Day
Sunday, November 27, 2011
House Convenes at 8:00 pm
Thom Tillis, Speaker
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
RECONSIDERATION OF VETOED BILLS
HB 7 Ingle, Cleveland and McCormick (Primary Sponsors) – COMMUNITY COLLEGES/OPT OUT OF FEDERAL LOAN PROGRAM.
(Vetoed by Governor – 4/13/11) (Ratified Edition)
HB 351 Lewis, T. Moore and Killian (Primary Sponsors) – RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN GOVERNMENT. (Vetoed by Governor – 6/23/11)
(Veto Override Vote Reconsidered – 7/26/11) (Ratified Edition)
HB 482 Burr – WATER SUPPLY LINES/WATER VIOLATION WAIVERS.
(Vetoed by Governor – 6/27/11) (Ratified Edition)
SB 709 Rucho, Brown and Tucker (Primary Sponsors) – ENERGY JOBS ACT.
(Vetoed by Governor – 6/30/11) (Ratified Edition)
SB 727 Hise – NO DUES CHECKOFF FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES.
(Vetoed by Governor – 6/18/11) (Ratified Edition)
http://www.ncleg.net/Calendars/CurrentCalendars/CurrentHouseCalendar.pdf
Some Persons More Equal Than Others
Posted by: | CommentsAs cities around the country trade notes on how to crack down on peaceful Occupy protesters, a chant goes up: ‘Who do you protect? Who do you serve?’ As the empire strikes back, Chris Hayes offers a plausible answer. It’s the reason for Occupy in the first place.
Citing UCLA corporate law professor (and Republican) Lynn Stout, David Kay Johnston writes [emphasis mine]:
Against $15 trillion of mortgage bonds, Stout said, Wall Street marketed credit default swaps in 2008 with a notional value of $67 trillion. Worldwide, traded swaps at their peak equaled $670 trillion or $100,000 for each person on the planet, vastly more than all the wealth in the world. Those numbers make it a mathematical certainty that the swaps were mostly speculation, not hedging.
There is a reason people have taken to the streets — in London, in Madrid, in Athens, in Dublin, in Reykjavik, in hundreds of cities across the planet. In Europe, see IMF austerity measures that require the public to cover the gambling losses of a financial industry unaccountable for committing massive fraud in derivatives. In the U.S., see the deal to immunize banks from prosecution: With few exceptions, state attorneys general want to hand the banks “get out of jail free” cards and sweep the crimes under the rug. See Kelo v. City of New London or Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In literature, see Orwell: All “persons” are equal but some “persons” are more equal than others.
#Occupy is asking the right question — a dangerous question — not only of police, but of the entire system: ‘Who do you protect? Who do you serve?’
The crowds chant,“WHO DO YOU PROTECT, WHO DO YOU SERVE?”
Fox News Launches Proxy War Against Occupy Wall Street
Posted by: | CommentsFox News has launched a proxy war on Occupy Wall Street (#OWS) on the taxpayers’ dime by instigating a federal investigation of New York Communities for Change, part of the team behind the successful Occupy the Boardroom. Politico’s Ben Smith reports tonight on an effort by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-1%; net worth $156 million) “to link the defunct community organizing group ACORN to the Occupy Wall Street movement.”
From NewsCorp (home of ‘Hacking on an industrial scale’) and Fox News comes this:
In a letter dated Monday, Issa, R-Calif., called for U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the Eastern District of New York to launch a probe into allegations first reported by FoxNews.com that NYCC may have “solicited donations from union members under false pretenses and misappropriated those funds to support the protesters.”
Fox and Fiends’ business model relies on boogie men. So this is the next wave in Fox’s Zombie ACORN narrative that cranked up two weeks ago. They will be, as usual, relentless. NYCC rattled some cages, so Zombie ACORN must die … again.
Michael McAuliff from HuffPost: Read More→
The Right Rounds Up the Usual Suspects
Posted by: | CommentsRichard Eskow deconstructs polling of Occupy Wall Street done by Fox News’ professional centrist, Douglas Schoen. Discussing his data in the Wall Street Journal, Schoen characterizes the movement as favoring “radical left-wing policies” reflecting “values that are dangerously out of touch with the broad mass of the American people,” including “radical redistribution of wealth.” Those conclusions are “not supported by his own survey,” Nate Sliver tweets. In fact, radical redistribution of wealth draws 4% support in Schoen’s poll.
Eskow summarizes Schoen’s results and compares them to recent national polls. Surprise: Occupy Wall Street responses are in line with most of America. So why the spin?
Whenever America’s right wing feel threatened or that the world has slipped beyond its control, very predictably — and with much less style than Captain Renault — conservatives round up the usual suspects: commies and hippies. And dirty hippies (DFHs). It’s an old tradition, Mandrake, like getting rid of fluoridation in our water. Familiar enemies are a comforting point of reference in an unsettling present and scarier future.
Occupy Asheville To Encamp Legally
Posted by: | Comments
Representatives of Occupy Asheville (OA) met with senior staff from the City of Asheville today. CoA offered three options to OA for encampment. Tonight, according to their FB page, OA reached consensus. They will soon be based on N. Lexington Avenue at the I-240 overpass where the mural is located. There is power and water available there, and it is within the Central Business District. Thanks to everyone involved for reaching a solution. I understand that Asheville is the first city in America to find a legal place for an Occupy group.
There will be a $25 permit fee that the group intends to pay in pennies.
You can find out more about the group at their website.
What do you think of it?
From Media Blackout to Circus
Posted by: | Comments| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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First they ignore, you, etc., etc.
Occupy Wall Street (#OWS) Organizers Gets Decent Press
Posted by: | CommentsThe Wall Street Journal gives the protesters some decent press, calling them “a tea party with brains”:
This isn’t just some anarchist or lefty agitating. Many of the protesters are furious with the Obama administration’s kow-towing to big finance. They’re critical of Federal Reserve policies. Refund California is aligned with 1,000 faith-based groups … despite what you hear, there’s been a lot of goodwill between the police and protesters. They’re sharing coffee and donuts in the morning.
It’s a start. Occupy Asheville continues.
